InCity Times asks the voters of Worcester to
make their voices heard and get out
and vote September 20! These trying
times require bright, honest and com-mitted
commuity leaders For this pre-liminary
election, voters must narrow
the City Council at Large, District 1
and District 3 fields.

We are asking that you vote for:

District 1: Virginia W. Ryan

The readers of this column know
how pointless I believe incumbant
Joffrey Smith is – from his half heart-ed
attempt at serving his constituents
to his half-assed movie career as an
extra to his half-finished house in the
West Side. Yeah, it was once cool that
he was young and running for office
several election cycles ago, but now
Smith is not so young and has proved
himself to be just like every other
entrenched incumbent: doesn’t return
phone calls, doesn’t act on constitutent
requests, has no real ideas/passions
about anything and (as proven in last
election cycle) wanted to use his city
council seat as a catapault for new,
higher office Well, Smith ran for state
rep a few years ago and lost big time
He took a drubbing – finished way way
behind the two front runners. Which
means: Smith is most likely stuck in
his Worcester City Council District 1
seat and District 1 is stuck with this
totally lackluster character who thinks
because he is cute you should give him
your vote.

Don’t! He’s a cypher!

But at least he’s not a criminal the
way Tony J Economou is – the next
person running for District 1.

Economou, a real estate agent ILLEGALLY
tried to scare poor folks
out of their homes after they had been foreclosed
upon. Why? To get them out ASAP and turn around and sell the propeerty – to make a killing in the real
estate market.

What’s especially sleazy about Economou is when the bank fore-closed
on the home, Economou took it
upon himself to make out fake legal looking
documents and taping them to the
people’s homes – giving them a few
weeks to move out or else.

This is totally illegal! People do not
have to move out immediately when
the bank forecloses! They can spend
months in their home as their case
makes its way through the legal system.

If Tony Economou had had his (illegal) way,
these folkswould be living at the PIP homeless shelter – and
he would be stuffing his pockets with cash – thousands of dollars!

When InCity Times called him on
this and published a story, Economou
bull shitted – told the public that it wasn’t him making
the GET OFF THIS PROP-ERTY
notices – it was Freddie
mac/Fanny Mae, to which these non-profits
said NO WAY, we neverd o
that, we never gave Tony Economou
such forms to paste on doors.

What a lying low-life, Economou is. No upstanding businessman from the community – no matter how hard he tries to pretend. This guy is simply greedy and will do anything for a buck – even if it is lying and breaking the law.

Do the people of Worcester’s District 1 really want a low-life
llike Tony Economou representing
them?

D oes Worcester want this guy to voice the concerns of the people?

NO!

Which brings us to the person we want you to vote for: VIRGINA RYAN

Yeas ago, when I was a student at
Burncoat Senior High School, Virginia
Ryan was a biology teacher there. She
was tough and no-nonsense – and I
was a little afraid of her. The 15-year-old me was glad when I learned I got the sweet and brillliant
Mr. LaBelle as my 10th grade biology
teacher, But my good pal Paula T. had Miss Ryan
– and liked her.

The years have gone by and we (meaning I – Rosalie)
have toughened up. We have
learned to look beyound a person’s
exterior to find, in Miss Ryan’s case at
least, a very good, hardworking,
straigh-shooting person. And we like Ryan’s platform.

This is what District 1 and the Worcester
City Council needs: someone
(Virigina Ryan) who is going to fight
for home owners (Ryan’s for the lowest residential taxr ate), our schools (she was a WPSchool teacher for years and years, our students (she was committed to all her kids learning!). Plus she was a biology teacher – so she will/and has done her homework on the Asian Long-horned beetle and Worcester’s trees.

District 1, if you folks
elect Virginia Ryan, will be getting a person
with a ton of energy! I know she is
retired and I know that retirees’ contributions
and their premiums via City of Worcester was what put Ryan in the limelight, but she has many more interests/goals.

Ryan cares about being fair – and she
is not afraid to speak her mind. She has a ton of energy – has
been going door to door meeting a ton
of District 1 voters!

This is a good
thing!

But why do I like Virginia Ryan? It’s the personal stuff – the small stuff. The kind feelings she has shown me through her letters and even actions these last three years. For instance, over
these past few years Ryan has sent me leeters to the
editor. They have not been about her or the retirees of the City of Worcester. They have been about kids and poor
folks. For instance, one letter she wrote
us detailed how for years and years she
took the Worcester Public Schools students
to all kinds of cities and countries
via the Burncoats/WPS field-trip system.
And I remembered Miss Ryan did do that – every
year taking a bus -oad of Burncoat students
to Washington DC to learn about our Capitol and our government. She did this every year!
Would I, as a sanity-loving adult,
want to do the same? Take a bunch of teenagers to DC? Heck no! Well, Miss Ryan beleived in kids,
in history, in our nation’s history and DID IT!
Put it all together with her yearly
field trips to Washington. She did this for
years. The letters she wrote to me
talked of keeping the field trip system
alive and well in our public schools. Ryan knew that going
to DC or Canada or maybe even France was a
cool thing for kids – was yet another way for
students to learn. Learn other stuff
than what she was teaching them in bio
class.

Finally, one of Virginia
Ryan’s last letters to the editor to me detailed this incident: Virginia was shopping at Wal Mart in
West Boylston – it was wintertime and
she was appalled, just appalled, that the
cashiers of Wal Mart had no real barriier
between their cashier stations and the cold/cold wind
– that is the cashiers were working
right in front of the automatic exit
door. She wrote the wind was cold and was
whipping in every time a customer paid the cashier and walked out of Wal Mart. And they didn’t even
have coats on! What a crumby way to
work for five or so hours! Where,
Virginia Ryan wanted to know, was
the barrier that protected these workers
from the elements? Why didn’t
Wal Mart errect some kind of partition?
Do the right thing? I think she even
complained to Wal Mart.

This impressed me the most! This made me
think: Virgina Ryan is sensitive and moral – she cares about
folks most people don’t think twice
about.

So, based on my adult dealings
with Virgina Ryan, I say she is a biologist,
a champion of kids and public school education. She is someone who will always do
the right thing!

She is not a politician like Smith and, God forbid, the creep-meister Tony Ecomou – kicking folks like the Wal Mart cashiers Ryan defended out of their homes!

This election cycle incumbent Jim McGovern has a bevy of Republican challengers nipping at his heels, a la little chihuahuas in doggie day care. They think they can ride the nutty/racist/cynical Tea Bagger wave to Washington. They think they can spew the same crap as Rand Paul and expect it to work here. They will not prevail, if we all do what we have been dong for years – vote for Jim McGovern!

McGovern is one of the most well liked politicians in the region. Why? Because Jim McGovern is a genuinely nice, modest and effective Congressman. Because he not only brings in millions of federal dollars for all sorts of Worcester/Worcester County projects but because he always votes his conscience.

Let’s get past the millions of federal dollars McGovern has brought to Worcester/Worcester County for our streets, highways and byways, schools and parks. Let’s get beyond the fact that if reelected, McGovern will be one of the most powerful figures in Congress. Let’s put aside the political folks lore that under his political tutelege Tim Murray, Joe O’Brien, Jim Augustus and every other local Democratic bright boy blossomed and bloomed to become … political heavy weights in city and state politics. Which translates to more jobs, dough and projects for Worcester. We have never been a Tim Murray fan, but we have always loved McGovern, his political mentor.

Please review the background of Joffrey Smith, who is running for the Mass State House. You might consider checking the records from the Worcester Registry of Deeds concerning the residence of City Councilor Joff Smith on 37 Barry Road, Worcester, MA.

One major factor that caused the housing bubble was people’s ability to get sub-prime mortgages for homes they could not afford to keep and maintain. I think you’ll find that Joff Smith, through his initial mortgage at Country Wide and his re-fi, falls within these parameters. Presently, Mr. Smith is at least $50,000 “upside down” on his house. How is our self-proclaimed financial genius (as we’ve been told over and over and over… “I have an economic degree from the University of Hartford”) able to get himself in this situation?

Apparently, his two full bathrooms have been out of commission since January of 2010 (I hope he has the proper permits), because he can’t afford to fix them. He had a leak in the wet wall that has caused him to knock down the wall between the bathrooms. He has had to clean up the mold and re-do the plumbing, walls and fixtures.

How can we have him take care of our house, when he can’t take care of his own house?

What a joke to watch the state rep debate a few nights ago and see the programed Joff Smith LIE about how accessible he will be. Absolute bull shit. At the city council office he never ever had a personal cell available or even a home phone # – just work (where he never could be found).

This weasel doesn’t even like people – he is in love with himself. Which is why he is the political protege of alleged pedophile and voting fraud creep Paul Giorgio, a long time Worcester County Democrative operative whom the Dems should drop like a piece of shit.

But I digress … .

At the debate Joff Smith just screamed his canned answers – no thought behind them – and definitely no soul. We likes John Mahoney, Margot Barnet and even Don Sharry. Much nicer folks – and most likely anyone of them could do a better job than Smith.

Let us hope this savvy district doesn’t go the Reality TV route and just vote for Smith because he looks like every other buffed hunk on some low-life/low-talent reality TV show. Let’s hope they use their heads – and hearts.

Wow! We had wanted to mention Joff Smith in our blog about moron’s (see below) because he embodies everything that is creepy about America: Joff Smith thinks he is a TV/movie star! Smith, who is in his late 20s, actually has an agent! Someone who tries to get him into the movies! Someone who actually makes calls on the behalf of Smith’s acting career.

Smith is ambitious beyond belief, but his ambition far outstrips his intelligence and ability. But hey, he looks good in a suit and smiles real nice. Why not vote for him? Why not send him to Beacon Hill? To Washington!

When Joff Smith isn’t trying to break into show biz, he is a Worcester City councilor – a job he doesn’t do at all. He has demagogued the Asian Beetle issue – bad beetles! Bad feds! Evil feds! But other than that, he has done pretty much nothing as Worcester City Councilor. He is lousy at constituent services. When constituent Jeff Richardson asked Smith to have the sidewalk in front of his house repaired 3 years ago, nothing got done. For 3 years! Just last week did he get results – probably because Joff really needs his vote. He also placed a Joff Smith lawn sign on Richardon’s lawn without asking; apparently Joff has been doing this all over the district! I saw him a month ago, wearing of all things white gloves as he gingerly placed a Joff Smith sign in someone’s lawn. Yes, wear those little white gloves, Joffy! We don’t want your precious little movie star hands scarred!

Well, finally, our new mayor shows some cajones! Mayor Joe O’Brien has snubbed Joff Smith (at the moment an At Large Worcester city councilor with an at-LARGE ego but a Missing-in-Action brain) for the gal from Elm Street – Margot Barnet. He will formally endorse Barnet for the District 13 State Rep seat that Mr. Hottie Pants, Bob Spellane, has decided to give up after a number of horrid/stupid mis-steps (political and personal).

Barnet, a lady who has been president of the fab Regional Environmental Council, one-time home to the equally fab REC Director of Development Josie Shagwert and equally bright and articulate (and fab) REC ex-executive director Peggy Middaugh, is the kind of person we want to represent District 13. Smart, intelligent, honest.

We were getting so bummed out over the field of candidates – especially Joff Smith, a guy who, just because he looks cute in a suit, thinks he is somehow destined for a political career, a chance to lead “the people.” He’s been waiting for a chance like this for, let’s see, forever.

Why is it that men’s egos grow in inverse proportion to their IQs?

Smith’s ego is FUCKIN’ huge – and his contribution to the City of Worcester is so small! He has contributed next to nothing as a Worcester City Councilor, and despite his efforts to grand stand and jump on the hot issues like A.L.Beetle-mania, he is ultimately pointless. Continue reading Hooray for Mayor Joe O’Brien!→

I have known and worked with Grace Ross for a while now. InCity Times endorsed her for governor last time around (I put her on our cover and ran a huge story, too!). I also endorsed her for Worcester City Council three years ago, when she ran for an at-large seat. She would have made a great at large city councilor. I mean, look who we ended up with instead: a totally incompetent nabob – Mike Germain.

I remember going to her “support Grace meetings” when she ran for that at large seat council seat – when she really had a chance of winning (until Mayor Joe O’Brien’s wife, Lisa Weinberg, began her smear campaign against Grace, calling her anti-semetic – the last thing Grace would ever be). Grace had so many great folks backing her then – all the city’s neighborhood activists, it seemed! She was so inspirational when she spoke! You just wanted to get up and clap after one of Grace’s beautifully worded speeches. Continue reading I love candidate Grace Ross, but …→

I noticed the street parallel to Lafayette Street is now two-way and has a lovely double yellow line painted down its middle (courtesy of our DPW). I grew up in the neighborhood. For years and years and years the street (bordering the Corner Lunch) was one way and NEVER EVER two way – or repaired. It always looked dumpy.

Why the big change?

Could it be that District 1 City Counilor Joff Smith’s family has relocated their scrap metal business there and wanted a nice new convenient two-way street on which to conduct their business – Goldstein’s Scrap and Metal? And Joff could make that happen – as soon as they made the move from their old site – Harrison Street – to the new one? Most likely the answer is yes. After all, their son sits on the city council’s street/parking subcommittee – only for most folks, it takes years for anything to happen to their street. Continue reading City Councilor Joff Smith and Goldstein Scrap Metal’s new street→

Yup! That was my first, true, gut – “visceral,” if you want to get fancy – reaction when I heard that these three guys are most likely going to run for State Rep. Bob Spellane’s seat when he vacates it next year to become a grown up.

While I have always liked City Counilor at Large Gary Rosen, at 64 years old, he’s simply too old to run for this seat. It’s like he’s embarking on a political career when he should be … gardening. It’s strange: Gary dropped out of the Worcester mayoral race last month because he said he wasn’t up to campaigning. Too energy-sapping. Too much work. But he would have done pretty well (won reelection to his city councilor at large seat) if he had just kept his name on the ballot and spent the rest of the fall sorting his sock drawer. But yeesh, Gary, a run for state rep slot? How many people in Paxton know you? How are you gonna reach all these voters? Think of all the Gary-Rosen-for-State-Rep combs you’ll have to pass out!

Why is it that we have a plethora of yahoos on the Worcester City Council? First there is City Councilor at Large Frederick “Ric” Rushton, whose trials and tribulations I chronicle in “Dope-o-rama” – ’cause he’s so dopey. Whether Rushton’s talking about the “vortex” in his brain or browbeating his council mates with a half-baked version of some historical event, Rushton never seems to get anything right.

Then there’s City Councilor Joff Smith, who, when recently complaining about the Asian Long-Horned Beetle in sentences cobbled together with thumb tacks and dangling participles galore, took his moron-ness to an even higher level: During a recent city council meeting Smith said that some of his conversations with officials reminded him of “episodes of Scooby Doo.” Scooby Doo?!

For the uninitiated, Scooby Doo was a 1960s Saturday morning cartoon – the star of which was a goofy Great Dane named Scooby Doo. Scooby had all these silly adventures with four 20-something kids (they’re Joff’s age) – one of whom always yelled: “Scooby Doo, where are YOU?!” Continue reading How dumb can they get?→